Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to defend WBC title against Andy Lee on June 16th in Texas - News

Michael Collins: WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1, 31 KO's) will be facing a good opponent in Andy Lee (28-1, 20 KO's) for his next title defense on June 16th at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Top Rank has just reported that the deal is done. Lee is a considerable improvement over the guys that Chavez Jr. has been facing and it's somewhat of a surprise that Chavez Jr. has agreed to take this fight.

This is obviously a really dangerous fight for Chavez Jr. compared to the guys that heís been fighting since winning the title over Sebastian Zbik. In his two title defenses, Chavez Jr. has beaten Peter Manfredo Jr. and Marco Antonio Rubio. Both of them were dwarfed by the 180 pound Chavez Jr. and were beaten pretty much on size alone.

Top Rank was considering matching Chavez Jr. with one of their own guys unbeaten Vanes Martirosyan, a light middleweight, but they instead saw something they preferred in Lee. Martirosyan moves a lot more than Lee, seems to take a solid shot well and has good speed and power. That might been enough to rule him out for Chavez Jr. There was also the sparring session that took place between Chavez Jr. and Martirosyan last year in which Chavez Jr. got handled pretty easily and looked about as bad as you can look without getting dropped. It was one-sided with Martirosyan doing whatever he wanted.

With Lee, you know heís been hurt against Brian Vera and Craig McEwan, and thatís something you can with. Chavez Jr. isnít a big puncher despite being someone that arguably should be fighting at light heavyweight instead middleweight given his high weight for each fight. However, Chavez Jr. is good at smothering his opponents by bulling them up against the ropes where he can work the body.

Other than that, Chavez Jr. is a very average fighter at the distance and if Lee is able to keep the fight there then itíll be bad for Chavez. It might come down to the judges in Texas having to make a decision. Iíd hate to see Lee lose by a decision if heís dominated the fight, but it could happen. Chavez Jr. is the big name and heís fighting in his venue in Texas..